In the year 2020, Nova Scotia has approved and admitted a very high number of immigrants. The number of approved immigrants was even higher than what was originally allocated at the start of the year. This has paved the way for Nova Scotia’s economic recovery.
Last year, around 3,517 immigration candidates were approved. Out of these immigration candidates, most were hailing from occupations that were deemed as essential services such as healthcare workers which consisted of nurses, care assistants, and doctors.
Due to the pandemic, immigration levels in 2020 were severely affected as compared to 2019, but Nova Scotia kept admitting candidates under the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) and the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP).
Nova Scotia’s immigration minister, Lena Diab has said that high level of immigration will play a major role in Nova Scotia’s post-pandemic economic recovery and growth.
“Immigration will play an important role in our economy as we recover from this pandemic,” Diab said in a media release. “We will continue to work with our stakeholders to identify labor needs in key essential service sectors and employers who need specialized skills and talent to create economic growth.”
Nova Scotia focuses on admitting foreign talent who have specialized skills or occupations that match identified shortages in the labor market. Nova Scotia also retains international students who are studying in the province after they graduate.
In order to move to Nova Scotia permanently, candidates have two immigration pathway options to select from: the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), and the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP).
The AIP allows employers in Atlantic Canada to hire foreign nationals for occupations that they were unable to fill. Candidates arriving in Canada under the AIP are required to have a job offer from a designated employer in the given province. Employers are not required to obtain a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
Under the NSNP, candidates can choose between eight different immigration streams:
- Nova Scotia Experience: Express Entry, for Express Entry candidates who worked in Nova Scotia for at least one year.
- Nova Scotia Labor Market Priorities: for Express Entry candidates who meet specific labor market needs.
- Nova Scotia Labor Market Priorities for Physicians: for Express Entry candidates who have a job offer as a family physician or specialist physician.
- Physician Stream: for physicians who have a job offer in Nova Scotia and are not in the Express Entry system.
- Skilled Worker Stream: for skilled workers who have received a job offer in the province.
- Occupation In-Demand Stream: for workers with a job offer in an occupation that is deemed “in-demand”.
- Entrepreneur Stream is for individuals who wish to start a business in the province.
- International Graduate Entrepreneur Stream, for international graduates who wish to start a business in the province.
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